


Backup Singers

by Gullwhacker



Category: Sing (2016)
Genre: Fluff, Friendship, Gen
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-01-04
Updated: 2017-01-11
Packaged: 2018-09-14 16:37:53
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,001
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9193730
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Gullwhacker/pseuds/Gullwhacker
Summary: With the grand reopening of the Moon Theatre, preparations for the next show - or shows - must go on.  The talented performers formed a bond during that initial chaos, becoming fast friends - and when push comes to shove, friends help out.  Sometimes it's grand heroics, sometimes it's little bits of kindness.These are their stories.





	1. Carpooling (Johnny and Rosita)

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Eastofthemoon](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Eastofthemoon/gifts).



> In the wake of seeing Sing, I was struck by a number of scenes - most notably the parts with Ash being comforted in the wake of the break-up. Post-film, I can envision the group staying together, and having each others' backs.
> 
> These are their stories. Each chapter will be focused on - more or less randomly selected - a time one of the performers helped out one of the others. Leaving out Mike by virtue of his being on the run from the Russian Bear Mafia, and sticking to the performers themselves - no Buster or Eddie snippets here, sorry - that gives twenty possible chapters. As a challenge to myself, after the first one I'm picking the pairs at random.
> 
> So let's get the ball rolling with the idea that sparked this whole thing! Update schedule will hopefully be weekly.

"Wait, Norman, can you just - what do you mean, none of them?! Did you try calling - yes, I mean on the phone!"

The backstage rehearsal rooms of the new and improved Moon Theatre were still a work in progress. Oh, the ribbon-cutting ceremony had been grand and all, Johnny mused to himself, but the soundproofing wasn't quite...proven yet. Anything the public could see was all grand decor, but there were gaps in the back offices you could swing an ape through.

Truth be told, he wasn't exactly rushing for the work to be finished.

Still, it meant that his efforts to re-tune the tired old upright piano could be interrupted by a phone call. The same seemed to be going for the other singers, who were poking their heads out from whatever projects they'd picked for the afternoon, all turning to an increasingly frantic Rosita.

"You have to be kidding me. Has the school not heard about email? Or telegrams? ...that was sarcasm, Norman, the telegram office was demolished years ago. Okay, can..." The pig trailed off, shoulders slumping in resignation. "I know, I know - you did very well, honey, but if tthe school needs actual signatures...I'll see if there's anything I can do, okay? Love you."

Tapping the red icon on her phone, Rosita just slumped forward in resignation. Even from behind the piano, Johnny could see a hint of shaking in her shoulders. It took only a few moments to set his tools atop the piano, and start ambling forward. Words started to rise up, but he was lost. What should someone say in a situation like this?

"Miss Rosita? Are you...no, that's a silly question. What's wrong?" Johnny found himself lifting his chin as the elephant in the room spoke up. Somehow she'd found her words first, offering comfort in her stance.

"Meena? Oh, everyone...I'm sorry, we just made a small mistake. The kids have been looking forward to a big school trip next week, and were supposed to take their permission slips in today. I thought Norman had signed them, and Norman thought I had signed them, and..." Pausing to dab at her eyes with a handkerchief from that bag of hers - Johnny couldn't help but wonder if it had everything imaginable - Rosita continued. "Anyway, the school is adamant that they need the signatures by the end of the day. Unfortunately, the kids couldn't reach either of us until a few minutes ago, the office closes in twenty minutes, and there's no way I can get across town in time... Oh, they'll be so disappointed..."

Ash moved in to join Meena in reassuring Rosita, porcupine closing in for a gentle hug. Johnny kept his distance for the moment, though, running through lessons in his mind. The main throughway would be jammed at this time of day, but the docks would be relatively clear. The tricky bit would be the school zones, but...

"Ma'am?" Johnny blinked in surprise at the interruption - and realized that he'd spoken without thinking, and everyone was looking at him. Well, in for a penny, in for a pound... "I hate to interrupt - and I think you're a brilliant mother too, by the way - but I think I can help, if you're ready to leave right now."

\---

Rubber squealed on pavement, the high pitch ringing down alleys and out to the distant ocean. Glancing into a mirror, Johnny spun the wheel and hammered the gas pedal, forcing the drift to shift directions. There was no way for him to ask, of course, but he wondered if his dad might be impressed with him for this kind of time...

With a double thud, brakes and curb joined forces to bring the old jalopy to a final halt. Glancing at the clock, Johnny let out a breath. Maybe not his best time across town, but far from his worst - it would hopefully do the trick. "And there we are - this is the right school, right, ma'am?"

Arms beside her, gripping the edges of her seat tightly enough that her joints seemed almost white, Rosita turned with inexorable slowness to stare in horror at Johnny. "J-Johnny, dear, where did you say you...learned to drive?"

"Oh, Dad taught me. Part of - well, it's a long story. But listen, we're here right? So get in there, and save your kids' trip!"

"...trip. Right. I only have a..." She trailed off in the middle of unbuckling her seatbelt, staring at the dashboard clock in what looked like shock. "...I have ten minutes. How do I...no, I don't want to know. In fact, never tell me how fast you were driving. Ever."

Lost for words, Johnny could only nod in response. "Cross my heart, ma'am. And I promise I'll take it slower on the way back."

"Good. That's...good." Nodding absently, Rosita stepped out of the jalopy, steadying herself against it. Belatedly, Johnny realized how big a step down it might be - but the pig hopped down with remarkable aplomb. Just as she was about to leave, though, she stopped one more time. "Oh, and Johnny?"

"Y-yes, ma'am?" That tone of voice was a bit stern - it'd been years since he'd heard a motherly admonition, but he was sure he was about to receive one now-

"Thank you. You're a lifesaver."

"A-any time, ma'am." Rosita turned just long enough to give the gorilla a shaky smile, then trotted off to head into the school. Left to his own devices, Johnny let out a breath and slumped forward, resting his forehead against the wheel. "...I say that, but I wonder if this is going to become a regular thing..."


	2. Getting In Tune

It was kind of different, working at the new Moon Theater. If she was being completely honest with herself, Ash wasn't sure she was really down with doing her songwriting here. She'd done her best to carve out a little space of her own - an old bean bag chair in the corner next to an outlet, her coffee mug, her laptop - but it wasn't really the same.

Compared with working at home, there were a few problems. More interruptions was the biggest one - between Rosita's little horde stopping by and Gunter's attention-grabbing everything, it seemed like something could break her train of thought every other minute. Inspiration was another - her apartment might have been filled with memories of Lance, but that just gave her plenty of anger to pour into her words.

Anger was good. Anger got her out the door just to prove she wasn't broken down. But she was trying to let go, and Buster Moon had practically begged for a bright and happy song for their next production. "'Just go a few years further back, and channel your inner kid! Anything's possible with enough glitter!' Ugh, I swear that little koala is doing this on purp-"

Her little rant to herself was interrupted by a chord dissonant enough to put her quills on end, and she could just feel that anger returning. It didn't matter that she'd tried to kick it out the door weeks ago, it just didn't-

"Come on! Cobblers, stop warbling already!" Another cacophony of twisted piano tones accompanied this last distant shout, and Ash couldn't help but cringe at the offense to music. Sure, she made noise - great heaps of noise - but noise with purpose was all kinds of different from the mess that the old piano was making.

Silence followed in its wake, though, and after a minute of nothing but her own head, Ash finally got up to investigate. The noise had been going on for an hour, and now it was done? Kind of suspicious.

Slinking down the hall towards the fledgling music room, the porcupine poked her head around the doorframe. "Y'know, if you need an alibi or time to hide the remains, I can leave you alone a few more minutes."

Hunched over the battered old piano's keys, hands just resting in balled up fists, Johnny let out a sad little laugh. "Do you mean this bloody piano, or Buster for putting me in charge of tuning it?"

"Ehh. Either. Both." Ice broken, Ash ventured into the room, eyes glancing around. The old theater had held decades of instruments, and only a fraction were found after the watery disaster. A few survivors filled optimistically sparse racks, though - a handful of guitars, a trio of trumpets, a drum set just begging to be test-run - and of course, the upright piano from the gorilla's performance. "Former is probably less trouble, though - what's the deal with the noise, though? I'd swear you never tuned a piano before."

"I haven't!" One fist thudded against rattly keys - bobcats and bears that piano was in sorry shape - as Johnny heaved out a sigh. "Not the first time, is it? Here he is, 'oi, Johnny, you'd look good playing the piano, so just learn it for the show! Hey, did a bang-up job playing it, I'm puttin' you in charge of the instruments!' Cor, if I wanted that kind of treatment I'd take up me dad's line of work!"

"I hear you there - did you hear the list of songs he gave me? Teenage girl, so of course it's got to be pop and bounce and fluff - I had to write my own song just to get away from that crap!" Stalking over to the guitars, Ash plucked at one string - and cringed at the resulting tone. Upon turning back to the gorilla, there was a bit more sympathy in her face - not that he was even looking. "You serious, though - about not playing before?"

He didn't answer right away, drumming his fingers against those tired old keys without letting them make a sound, but finally Johnny nodded. "Not in years, anyway - couple of lessons in school, but Miss Crawly pretty much had to start over..."  
Ash let out a whistle. "Pretty good, considering. Guessing it's the same for tuning these things up, then?" At the gorilla's nod, Ash made her way over to the piano's back with a concentrated frown. Plucking a quill from her back, she gave a couple of the piano's wires a few flicks - each one eliciting a note that made her bristle. "Yeah, you're up to your neck on this one. Kinda blown away you managed to get anything half-decent out of this thing."

Thud. Ash hopped up, catching the edge of the piano's lid, and pulled herself up to peer over the instrument at its supposed player. Johnny, for his part, seemed to have given up all hope, and had just collapsed with his head against the piano's frame. Wait, no, he was getting up....just to thud against it again. And again. And again. 

"...so, that's a good drum beat and all, but did you consider just asking for lessons for this kind of thing?" It was kind of comfortable hanging off the top of the piano like this, and Ash couldn't hide the smirk as Johnny slowly lifted his head to look at her in confusion. "I mean, I know guitars, and this has strings too, sooo...."

"Thank you, thank you, thank you!" The gorilla sprang up without warning, and pulled her into a hug that frankly she wasn't expecting - though at least he wasn't expecting the results either. "Ouch, ouch, ouch..."

"Yeaaaah, lesson one is going to be watch it with the surprise hugs." Heh. She was a teacher now. Certainly beat trying to wring cheerful song lyrics out of a stone - though she was feeling a bit more cheerful, watching him pull a few quills out of his arms. "All right, so I'll show you how to use a tuning fork, and you can tell me just what kind of family business is worth coming to deal with Buster."

What could she say? After Rosita showed up the other morning with a bag full of safety guides for the big lunk, Ash was positively curious as to just what his story was.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Took a bit longer to get this written than planned; hopefully my idea of writing on the weekend and editing during the week will work better this week. The dice gave me Meena helping Ash next, so I think the next few will just continue the chain. Still planning to stick to a weekly update schedule, either Tuesdays or Wednesdays.


End file.
